Catering- Olive Garden & Chick-fil-a

If the base price is $12.50 a person then your estimate is around $800. Don't forget delivery fees and tip for the food and your vendors which would be additional $300-$400.

View Quoted Comment The restaurants are less than 5 miles each from the venue so delivery fees should be $50 or less each. How much are we suppose to tip delivery?

That comes out to be about $12 per person. 65 x 12 = 780. That seems very low. Like I can’t really go out myself and get a decent dinner for less than $10 on a regular day. I might be worried it won’t be enough food. Would a guest be able to get a plate of pasta and a chick fil a sandwich or would they have to choose one or the other.

View Quoted Comment 20% is standard, so about $150-$160 and then $20 per server.

You do you. If you want Olive Garden and Chick Fil A... go for it. I think it is great you are being so careful with the budget. And, I'm assuming your guests will get it... and support you! I might try and make it look fancy somehow. I was at a funeral today that served fried chicken at the luncheon afterward. My original thought was "weird" but everyone loved it. Super easy, good and they put it on a nice platter.

Any even I have ever attended where Chic Filet was involved, that was always the most popular food. I think it’s a great choice. Plus, half the time traditional wedding food is just sub par.

I honestly think I’d just pick one or the other, both for cohesiveness and to save on delivery/tip. I think Olive Garden would be great for an evening wedding!

If that’s all you can afford, then people are free to decline if they don’t think it’s “good enough”. Not all social circles serve a full meal anyway. Some have cake and coffee at a non meal time, even when guests travel to get there) and everyone goes home after or they serve deli platters from Costco and call it a day. If someone is going to judge your character and hospitality because you aren’t serving a “standard wedding dinner” (what even is that when social groups have such widely varying customs and traditions?) on a tight budget, then they are not your friend.

Olive Garden is fine, with a few concerns/issues. My concern would be amount of food for people, because that cost doesn't sound "right" for your amount of people. You'll also need to think of people to serve the food and clear up afterward, as they should be fed too. You'll need chafing dishes to keep the food at food-safe temperatures. You can't have it sitting around without being kept warm/cold.

I would definitely over order from either of those places. We used to cater in Olive Garden frequently at my job and we would end up going through enough food as calculated by their website for 50 people with only 25 or 30 employees eating that day. Just something to think about.

Olive Garden leftovers also keep really well, and everyone wants leftover breadsticks.

If you're able to provide enough for all of your guests then I think it's fine. Plenty of caterers end up serving sub-standard food when they have to cook for a large group, so at least with Olive Garden or Chick-FIl-A you'll know what you're getting.

I've had way way worse food at weddings than Olive Garden. Chick fil A is great. Honestly if you can provide enough food, this is a good idea.

I honestly think olive garden catering sounds great haha